07 Nov Our Lifeline – Fall Appeal
My fiancé Alex and I were so excited about our future. I was moving to Ohio from Buffalo to be close to Alex, we had found the perfect place to live, our February wedding plans were coming along, and we were expecting our first child in May! A routine OBGYN appointment in January changed everything.
I didn’t think too much about the headache I had when I went to my appointment. It was a bit of a drive from my parents’ house to where my doctor was, and the traffic was congested. But this combined with my very high blood pressure was very concerning to my doctor. The next day my blood pressure spiked again so my doctor sent me to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital (OCH). I was admitted and diagnosed with severe preeclampsia. I had to stay there until our child was born.
I felt like I was on spin cycle, all our plans were put on hold as we focused on our baby and doing everything possible to remain calm and delay the birth to give our baby a fighting chance.
Alex would visit me on the weekends driving from Ohio every Friday after work. It was stressful, it was traumatic and very scary.
On February 11, 2022, at 28 weeks our daughter Isla was born. She was 1lb, 3ozs.
When I was getting ready to be discharged from OCH, Alex took a week off work to be with me and Isla. The plan was to stay at my parents who live one hour away and drive to OCH each day to be with our daughter. Well, that lasted one day! I didn’t want to be 1 minute away much less 1 hour away! Then our social worker recommended the Buffalo Ronald McDonald House (the House). For the first time in many weeks, I cried from happiness. What a blessing! The travelling was so draining on Alex, financially we were strapped, and we were physically and emotionally exhausted. The Buffalo Ronald McDonald House was our lifeline.
I knew we were in the right place when we showed up at the House with nothing but the clothes on our backs. There was no judgement, only warmth and compassion.
It is hard to find the words to describe the impact Ronald McDonald House Charities of WNY (RMHC of WNY) had on us. Every single person we met at the House and the volunteers pushing the Happy Wheels Cart at OCH were so friendly and caring. Spending my days at the hospital with my daughter hooked up to machines, getting poked and having a feeding tube was so difficult to see.
For the next 99 nights, knowing I was going home to a hot meal, a warm bed and the kind faces of people who understand what I was going through, made each day a little bit brighter.
Today, our 8-month-old daughter is a beautiful sassy, happy and stubborn little girl. She has Alex wrapped around her little finger. Our life together as a family may look different today, but without the lifeline from RMHC of WNY, I think I would have gone crazy. RMHC of WNY kept us together when staying together as a family was so important.
Alex joined me each weekend. We took care of Isla and RMHC of WNY took care of us. They took away some of our worries and helped us heal together as a family.
I don’t think we would have come away from this difficult time in such a good place if it wasn’t for everything the staff and volunteers did for us. Their warmth and love were life saving!
– Carolyn Bodenschatz (Isla’s mom)
